The deep haunting tones of the world's largest animals, baleen whales, are iconic - but how the songs are produced has long been a mystery. Whales evolved from land dwelling mammals which vocalize by passing air through a structure called the larynx - a structure which also helps keep food from entering the respiratory system. However toothed whales like dolphins do not use their larynx to make sound, instead they have evolved a specialized organ in their nose. Now a team of researchers hav...
Feb 23, 2024•14 min
In this episode: 00:45 Why are humans so helpful? Humans are notable for their cooperation and display far more altruistic behaviour than other animals, but exactly why this behaviour evolved has been a puzzle. But in a new paper, the two leading theories have been put the test with a model and a real-life experiment. They find that actually neither theory on its own leads to cooperation but a combination is required for humans to help one another. Research article: Efferson et al. News and View...
Feb 21, 2024•31 min
00:45 Smoking's long-term effects on immunity It's well-known that smoking is bad for health and it has been linked to several autoimmune disorders, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Now, researchers have investigated the immune responses of 1,000 people. Whilst some effects disappear after quitting, impacts on the T cell response lingers long after. The team hopes that this evidence could help better understand smoking's association with autoimmune diseases. Resea...
Feb 14, 2024•22 min
For over a century, cancer has been classified by areas of the body - lung cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer etc. And yet modern medical research is telling us that the molecular and genetic mechanisms behind cancers are not necessarily tied to parts of the body. Many drugs developed to treat metastatic cancers have the capacity to work across many different cancers, and that presents an opportunity for more tailored and efficient treatments. Oncologists are calling for a change ...
Feb 09, 2024•15 min
In this episode: 0:46 Borrowing tricks from cancer could help improve immunotherapy T cell based immunotherapies have revolutionised the treatment of certain types of cancer. However these therapies — which involved taking someone’s own T cells and reprogramming them to kill cancer cells — have struggled to treat solid tumours, which put up multiple defences. To overcome these, a team has taken mutations found in cancer cells that help them thrive and put them into therapeutic T cells. Their res...
Feb 07, 2024•35 min
Cervical cancer is both treatable and preventable, and the WHO has called for countries to come together to to eliminate the disease in the next century. However the disease still kills over 300,000 people each year, and levels of screening, treatment and vaccination need to be stepped up in order to achieve this goal. These challenges are particularly stark in low- and middle-income countries, where a lack of funding, staffing and infrastructure are obstacles. Vaccine hesitancy, especially in l...
Feb 04, 2024•17 min
In this episode: 0:48 How hominins spread through Europe Ancient stone tools are often uncovered in Europe, but it can be difficult to identify who crafted them, as Neanderthals and Homo sapiens coexisted in the region for several thousand years. The makers of one type of tool found in northern Europe has long puzzled researchers, but now through genetic analysis of nearby skeletal fragments, it has been revealed that they were made by Homo sapiens. The age of these tools suggests that modern hu...
Jan 31, 2024•29 min
Evidence so far suggests that the prevalence of long COVID in low- and middle-income countries could be similar to that of wealthier countries. For example, by some estimates, more than four million people in Brazil have long COVID. However, an absence of research on the condition in less-wealthy countries has left advocates hamstrung: few physicians acknowledge that long COVID exists. A lack of data is also hampering efforts to search for the mechanisms of the condition and tailor treatments. T...
Jan 26, 2024•12 min
In this episode: 0:46 Turning a toxic by-product into iron Red mud is a toxic by-product of aluminium manufacture, and millions of tonnes of it is produced each year. The majority ends up in landfills, pumped into vast lakes or stored in dried mounds, posing a serious environmental risk. This week, researchers demonstrate how red mud can be reused to make iron, a vital component in the production of steel. As their method uses hydrogen plasma rather than fossil fuels, they suggest it could be a ...
Jan 24, 2024•25 min
In this episode: 0:55 The AI that deduces solutions to complex maths problems Researchers at Google Deepmind have developed an AI that can solve International Mathematical Olympiad-level geometry problems, something previous AIs have struggled with. They provided the system with a huge number of random mathematical theorems and proofs, which it used to approximate general rules of geometry. The AI then applied these rules to solve the Olympiad problems and show its workings for humans to check. ...
Jan 17, 2024•32 min
In this episode of the Nature Podcast , we catch up on some science stories from the holiday period by diving into the Nature Briefing. We chat about: an extra-warm sweater inspired by polar bear fur; the fossil find revealing what a juvenile tyrannosaur liked to snack on; why scientists are struggling to open OSIRIS-REx’s sample container; how 2023 was a record for retractions; and how cats like to play fetch, sometimes. Nature News: Polar bear fur-inspired sweater is thinner than a down jacket...
Jan 10, 2024•30 min
In this episode, reporter Miryam Naddaf joins us to talk about the big science events to look out for in 2024. We'll hear about the mass of the neutrino, the neural basis of consciousness and the climate lawsuits at the Hague, to name but a few. News: the science events to look our for in 2024 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 03, 2024•14 min
Perovskites are cheap, abundant photovoltaic materials that some have hailed as the future of green energy. Around the world, companies are layering perovskites on top of traditional silicon to develop so-called tandem solar cells that some think could deliver at least 20% more power than a silicon cell alone. However, there remain multiple issues to overcome before these products are ready for widespread uptake in the notoriously competitive solar-power market. This is an audio version of our F...
Dec 29, 2023•24 min
In this episode: 00:54 Franklin’s real role When it comes to the structure of DNA, everyone thinks they know Rosalind Franklin’s role in its discovery. The story goes that her crucial data was taken by James Watson without her knowledge, helping him and Francis Crick solve the structure. However, new evidence has revealed that this wasn’t really the case. Rosalind Franklin was not a ‘wronged heroine’, she was an equal contributor to the discovery. Nature Podcast : 25 April 2023 Comment : What Ro...
Dec 27, 2023•45 min
Many AIs are 'black box' in nature, meaning that part of all of the underlying structure is obfuscated, either intentionally to protect proprietary information, due to the sheer complexity of the model, or both. This can be problematic in situations where people are harmed by decisions made by AI but left without recourse to challenge them. Many researchers in search of solutions have coalesced around a concept called Explainable AI, but this too has its issues. Notably, that there is no real co...
Dec 22, 2023•38 min
In this episode: 01:55 “Oh GPT” In the first of our festive songs, we pay homage to LLMs, the generative AI chat bots which have taken 2023 by storm. 05:32 Twenty questions In this year’s festive game, our competitors try to guess some of the biggest science stories of the year, solely by asking yes/no questions. 24:40 “Warming night” In our final song this year, we take stock as 2023 is named the hottest year since records began. As worsening climate change continues to threaten...
Dec 20, 2023•45 min
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books , astronomer Aomawa Shields discusses her memoir Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe . The book tracks her career path as a scientist and a classically-trained actor, explores her experiences as an African American woman in STEM, and interrogates science’s place in culture — some of the things we discussed in this podcast. Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe Aomawa Shields Constable (20...
Dec 15, 2023•35 min
Current COVID-19 vaccines offer great protection from serious illness, but they don't prevent people from becoming infected in the first place. Because of this, researchers have been searching for ways to boost mucosal immunity — the immune response on mucosal surfaces — as this is where the virus is first encountered by the body. Now a team have shown that mucosal immunity can be improved enough to block infection in rhesus macaques by administering booster vaccine...
Dec 14, 2023•8 min
In this episode: 00:48 A new way to grow a tricky parasite in the lab Toxoplasma gondii , the parasite that causes the zoonotic disease toxoplasmosis, has a complex, multi-stage life cycle. Some of these stages will only grow in the intestines of cats, making it difficult to study. Now, a team has found a way to grow one of these stages in vitro for the first time, which they hope will help researchers learn more about this parasite, estimated to have infected around 30% of the world’s populatio...
Dec 13, 2023•26 min
In this episode: 00:48 A gap for trapping light Confining photons within materials opens up potential applications in quantum computing and telecommunications. But capturing light requires nanoscale cavities, which are difficult to make. This week, a team has created the smallest silicon gap yet for this purpose, just two nano-metres wide, by exploiting the intermolecular forces that are usually an obstacle when creating such small structures. They show this gap can trap light effectively, but t...
Dec 06, 2023•31 min
Around 500 million people are estimated to be in period poverty, lacking adequate access to sanitary products. Many of these people rely on donations, but this is far from a long-term solution. To tackle this researchers have developed a method to extract absorbent materials for menstrual pads from a common plant, Agave sisalana . The researchers say that their method can be performed using local techniques and has a lower environmental impact than the manufacture of other period products. They'...
Nov 30, 2023•9 min
In this episode: 00:49 What to expect at COP28. The UN’s annual climate change conference is starting soon in Dubai. This time will be the first time that humanity formally assesses its progress under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, so we ask if this challenge of keeping warming below 1.5 ˚C can be met and what needs to happen at COP28 to make it a reality. News Feature: Is it too late to keep global warming below 1.5 °C? The challenge in 7 charts 10:49 Research Highlights Falcons show off the...
Nov 29, 2023•26 min
Researchers have been resurrecting apple trees to revive forgotten varieties of the fruit. They hope that sequencing these apples' genomes could uncover mutations that influence flavour, colour, crispness and other characteristics. This knowledge could help unlock the next blockbuster fruit, and develop trees that are more resistant to disease, climate change and other environmental pressures. This is an audio version of our Feature Apple revival: how science is bringing historic varieties back ...
Nov 24, 2023•18 min
In this episode: 00:46 What happens after polio is eradicated Since 1988, cases of polio have fallen by more than 99%, and many observers predict that the disease could be eradicated within the next three years. However, eradication isn’t the same as extinction, so the next challenge is for researchers to make sure the disease won’t return. We discuss what a post-polio future may look like, and how to ensure that the disease is gone for good. News Feature: Polio is on the brink of eradication. H...
Nov 22, 2023•22 min
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books , writer and researcher Jay Owens joins us to discuss her book Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles. Much like dust itself, Jay’s book travels the globe, looking at the impacts that these microscopic particles are having on the world, our health and environment, as well as exploring the role that humanity has played in creating them. Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles Jay Owens Hodder & Stoughton (2023) Music supp...
Nov 17, 2023•27 min
In this episode: 00:46 Machine vision enables multi-material 3D printing 3D printers are capable of producing complex shapes, but making functioning objects from multiple materials in a single print-run has proved challenging. To overcome this, a team has combined inkjet printing with an error-correction system guided by machine vision, to allow them to print sophisticated multi-material objects. They used this method to make a bio-inspired robotic hand that combines soft and rigid plastics to m...
Nov 15, 2023•27 min
In this episode: 00:46 Modifying a fungal drug to make it less toxic Amphotericin B is a drug used to treat life-threatening fungal infections. But while it is effective against many fungal species, it is also extremely toxic to kidneys, meaning it is mostly used as a drug of last-resort. This week, a team has unpicked the mechanism behind the drug’s toxicity, allowing them to modify it and reduce side effects in human kidney cells. The researchers hope this new version of the drug could become ...
Nov 08, 2023•28 min
In the past year, generative AIs have been taking the world by storm. ChatGPT, Bard, DALL-E and more, are changing the nature of how content is produced. In science, they could help transform and streamline publishing. However, they also come with plenty of risks. In this episode of Nature 's Take we discuss how these AIs are impacting science and what the future might hold. Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every ...
Nov 03, 2023•30 min
In this episode: 00:46 An injectable gel for healing muscles Severe muscle injury can be debilitating, with long recuperation periods. Now, researchers have developed a material that can be directly injected into injured muscle, helping to stimulate and heal damaged tissue. The team showed this approach could rapidly restore walking ability in severely injured rats and regenerate muscles within four weeks. They hope that this solution could one day help humans with similar injuries, and overcome...
Nov 01, 2023•23 min
For decades, BMI — calculated by dividing weight by height squared — has been as an international standard to determine healthy weights. However, BMI does not measure body fat, and ignores many other factors that can affect how healthy someone it. Now, a small but growing movement of reseachers and clinicians are calling for other metrics to be used in conjunction with BMI when diagnosing and treating obesity. This is an audio version of our Feature: Why BMI is flawed — and how to redefine obesi...
Oct 30, 2023•12 min
